Classically Speaking

I was able to go see the guitar recital performed by Robert Gruca on Sunday afternoon at Christ Church United Methodist at 2 p.m. It was my first concert of this type, and I was very impressed.

I consider myself a lifelong student of music. I taught myself to play guitar with some help from my older brothers. They had bought guitars and started learning at the same time, and they ended up showing me basic chords and giving me access to their instruments when they saw that I was persistent.  

Watching this recital in such an elegant setting gave me the distinct impression that although I have played for almost 20 years, I really don’t know anything about guitar! I’ve spent most of my life learning blues and rock and jazz and recently some classical guitar.

Classical guitar still seems so foreign to me, even though I can muddle my way through a few pieces by Bach and Villa-Lobos from memory. There is still such a wide vocabulary of techniques and nuances that remain untouchable to me. I approach the piano in the same way, though I do know all the basic scales and chords there from what I have been able to teach myself in a few years.

I am so glad that there are people who can play these instruments and appear to me almost like magicians, evoking sounds and moods that I can’t begin to figure out or duplicate, though I am emboldened to keep trying for as long as I live!  For a few hours Robert Gruca did just that.

Gruca’s playing was effervescent and it was so refreshing to see someone so ably bringing life to so many old pieces from altogether different worlds and different times. I could revel in the peace of that listening experience all day. He also had a good volume; his playing, though sensitive, commanded and filled the entire space of the large church hall.

My earliest memories of the guitar are listening to cassette tapes of Led Zeppelin II and Led Zeppelin IV. The mood and imagery evoked from hearing Albeniz’s Suite Espanola, Op. 47 bring to me a completely different sense and an almost impossibly distant past. And yet not so distant to the ear! 

I hear so many people complain that there is nothing to do in Charleston. I think the Charleston Chamber Music Society is proving that it is simply not true! And for anyone that would complain about not liking classical music, I would insist that everyone could find something to like about it. It is a language and creative passion that remains timeless. There is plenty of excellent live music to be experienced in this area. Get out and taste it! Listen with open ears and open minds and be prepared to grow!! 

Aran Jenkins is a recent graduate of WV State University.  He plays piano and guitar, writes for the Charleston Gazette, and is working on a novel.

Previous posts by Aran Jenkins:

While the Symphony Chorus cannot be heard on the current WVSO season, the local community clearly demonstrated their support of the chorus last evening. (ed. note: This sentence was edited for clarity after this article was initially published.)

It was SRO for Messiah at Christ Church United Methodist in Charleston. Chairs of all kinds were brought from rooms throughout the church to accommodate the overflow crow – and some folks just stood through the concert or sat on the stairs. Christ Church’s David Donathan says: “In my 18 years at CCUM, I have never seen that many people in that room. It was very exciting!”

And for their efforts, the 80 member ensemble was rewarded with an extended standing ovation at the end of the 90-minute concert.

Kudos go to director Dr. David Castleberry for his leadership, and not just as conductor. The choice of repertoire, Handel’s Messiah, was both popular and timely. His judicious cutting created an offering that both satisfied the audience but did not wear out the chorus. He also matched the vocal quality of the soloists to the solos well.

As a conductor, Castleberry was efficient and clear with very little expression except during the alternating sections of Since by man … He’d obviously done his job in rehearsal. He took the movements at a clip, detached and ‘dry’ to match the musical period. A small instrumental ensemble of 11 provided more than sufficient accompaniment for the chorus and soloists. Oh – and no stick. It was an intimate performance.

The chorus was well-rehearsed and fairly well-balanced. They executed the melismas with accuracy and delicacy, a quality often lacking in the performance of this work. The chorus was not unleashed until the Hallelujah and the following choruses. And Castleberry gave the singers somewhere to go and grow in the final chorus by starting the Amen section quietly and detached.

As for the soloists – they were all members of the chorus. What a pleasure! Choristers are rarely allowed to shine individually but they did last night. Dirk Johnson, Roger Wolfe, Erin Kishpaugh, Susan Tams, Eva Jones, Winnie Smith and 16-year-old Collin Nelson all acquitted themselves admirably.

Thanks should also go to the concert sponsor, DiTrapano, Barrett & DiPiero and all the donors who stepped up to support this dedicated organization. It’s amazing the commitment a little controversy can elicit.

By all reports, the retiring offering plates were over-flowing – and well-deserved!

Bravo WV Symphony Chorus!

P.S. The Bloch Sacred Service is planned for the spring semester. Interested singers can contact Dr. Castleberry by email or at 304.696.2963 to schedule an audition. 

The female vocal ensemble womanSong has been on the Charleston scene a dozen years now, and I’ve attended several of their concerts, mostly after Emily Capece assumed the position of artistic director and conductor.

This past weekend’s Winter Concert offered a diversity of music and musical styles. Capece is a fine conductor – clear and expressive. While I’m not very well acquainted with the female choral repertoire, she seems to be well-acquainted with it.

The concert opened with a small ensemble singing an Alleluia by Tarik O’Regan, an up-and-coming thirty-something British composer who’s gaining an international reputation. The fanfare was performed with only drum, putting both audience singers in the spirit of the season.

The full ensemble then divided in two and went back a century for an 8-part Ave Maria by another British composer, Gustav Holst.

Capece also directs Cora Voce, the high school girls choir of Appalachian Children’s Chorus. They joined womanSong for the performance of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, the entrée of the evening as it were. A small instrumental ensemble from the symphony, David Donathan on continuo and soloists Mariel van Dalsum-Boggs and Branita Holbrook-Bratka also joined the fray.

A commissioned work, Stabat Mater was originally written for male soprano and alto and continuo; the work was later arranged for SA chorus with soprano and alto soloists and strings by Bach. Unfortunately, both soloists were sopranos. Van Dalsum-Boggs offered her usual lovely spinning soprano, but Holbrook-Bratka’s fine mezzo voice was often lost in the lower range, However she did provide a marvelous tonal color contrast.

Pergolesi died at the young age of 26 and this was one of his final works. Written as a Good Friday meditation in honor of Mary, it enjoyed immense popularity and secured his place in musical history.

The addition of the younger voices suited the Pergolesi well, supporting a pure tone to match the style of the musical era. The instrumentalists only covered the alto soloist occasionally. I was surprised to see cellist Andrea DiGregorio playing bass, but I probably shouldn’t have since most string players must teach all strings.

After intermission, it was obvious that the audience was bolstered by family and friends of Cora Voce as there was a mass exodus. What a shame! There were treasures in store for those who stayed for the second half – not the least of which was the outstanding accompaniment of pianist Janet Brightbill who also offered a superb solo for the free-will offering.

We traveled back a few more centuries for the text to Vivos Voco by contemporary composer Joan Szymko. The ensemble performed this intricate work from memory as they did some other works near the end of the program. As a choral singer myself, I appreciated the commitment required to do that and it impresses an audience.

The chorale was joined by violinist Tim Tan for two of the Five Hebrew Love Songs, written by Eric Whitacre for his wife, soprano Hila Piltmann. These are haunting melodies, delicately delivered by both ensemble and violinist.

Snowforms by Canadian R. Murray Schafer paired vocal and visual landscapes for what the composer calls a ‘soundscape.’ As a singer, I can assure you that these require much more than vocal skill to perform. Each singer must become a vocal interpreter, a shared creator of the work of art.

After a nicely sung When the Song of the Angels is Stilled by a small ensemble, the full chorus launched into the lighter section to close the program. The folk song Wood River and soloist Nicole Cofer was an audience pleaser. That was followed by a sing-along First Nowell (which could have benefited from some audience light) and a Swingle Singers-like version of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

The program ended with the stirring Lay Earth’s Burdens Down, a commissioned work for the Portland Symphonic Girlchoir. The ensemble then launched into a rousing encore of the favorite, Go Where I Send Thee.

I should mention that Wood River and Go Where I Send Thee are both part of their just-released first CD, titled Gloria for its main work, the setting by Vivaldi.

All in all, it was a most pleasant evening of diverse music well-performed. The ensemble actually looked like they enjoyed singing this music, a quality that is often lacking. They sing again for Good Night and their Spring Concert is slated for April 30. Mark your calendars!

I’m a fan of Mark O’Connor's music, no matter what genre he’s playing or composing.  So when I heard that he was performing on Mountain Stage with his group Hot Swing, I made sure to find a way up to Morgantown to hear the concert. 

It was a long trip on a rainy day, and I was passing up a night in my own bed and the chance to hear the Peabody Trio play Mendelssohn and Schubert a lot closer to home.  I started to wonder if it was worth all this trouble. 

Once I heard O’Connor warming up during the soundcheck, I knew I’d made the right decision.  The moment he started playing, I lost track of whatever conversation I was having and just listened. 

This entire Mountain Stage show was amazing; each of the groups gave great performances, the venue was nice, and the audience was engaged throughout the night.

Larry Groce described this as a “picker’s show,” rightly so with all the great guitar, banjo, mandolin, and bass playing.  But it was definitely also a “bower’s show,” with some really cool fiddling/violin playing.*  Mark O'Connor's playing was exuberant and just amazing.  I was especially taken with the performance of a tune by O'Connor called "Gypsy Fantastic."  Plus, the Depue Brothers Band took the stage with four violin players.  Their set included a pretty wild performance of the Hoedown from Copland’s Rodeo.

This show will be on the radio in April. It will also be available online by then -- as a podcast and streaming through NPR Music.  You simply must hear it.

Bonus: I’ve got some free download cards for a few tracks from a recording of Mark O'Connor's string quartets. I'll send one of these cards to the first 10 people to email feedback@wvpubcast.org with “Americana” in the subject line.

Links:

* Mark O'Connor
* Mark O’Connor interview 
* The Depue Brothers Band 
* Mountain Stage 
* Mountain Stage @ NPR Music 
* Mountain Stage Podcast 

* Violin, fiddle, I don’t care what you call it – if you must, you can take up that argument in the comments.